A new NATO senior civilian representative in Afghanistan in the fall
(BRUSSELS2) It is a Dutchman who will take the reins of the civil representation of the Atlantic alliance in Afghanistan. The current ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Estonia, Maurits R. Jochems, will take office in October. He will replace Ambassador Simon Gass, who had held the position for just over a year, April 2011.
It is for his background and his qualities as a specialist in the Afghan question that Mr. Jochems was chosen. He had already been acting high civilian representative in Afghanistan in 2008. He was also present in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, as Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Planning within the Operations Division of the NATO International Staff. This graduate of the Royal Military Academy has also served the Netherlands in the past at embassies in Kingston, Bonn, Beirut, Rome and Brussels. He was then, until his departure for Pakistan, director of the development agency of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
« His designation comes at a decisive moment for the FIAS (International Assistance and Security Force) - underlined the Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen - as the areas in which we continue to transfer security control to the Afghan National Security Forces are ever increasing”. Its objective is clear, it will be to forge a close working partnership with the Afghan government and other relevant actors (...) if Afghanistan is to become a stable and prosperous country” announced Maurits Jochems in his press release.
